Host Jonathan Blackwood speaks with Peter Melby about storage and backup technology and writing storage and backup tech into an RFP.

Peter Melby is a fresh voice in the IT provider space. He and Jesse Armstrong started Greystone Technology in 2001 in order to, as the company puts it, get rid of the traditional “us versus them” attitude IT has toward business. The company focuses on the business capabilities that IT can provide. They aim to create solutions where IT is a partner across the organization, not a separate department. As a result the company has been recognized by multiple publications, and Peter himself has been featured in Denver Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 list in 2016, and ColoradoBiz Magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential Young Professionals list.

We had Peter on the podcast to discuss storage and backup technology. There are basically two types of storage and backup options – on premise and in the cloud. You can also create a hybrid environment where some files are stored on site while others exist in the cloud. Peter speaks at length about the benefits and drawbacks of each storage solution and why and how to implement a hybrid solution.

Peter also gives great advice on what to backup, and how to back it up. A backup and disaster recovery plan is an absolute necessity for any organization. There is so much data floating around, so much information, so many documents – it’s hard to imagine you can lose it all in the blink of an eye if a threat gets through. That is absolutely the case, and you don’t want to be the organization that destroys itself because you weren’t thorough enough to create a plan. Peter gives you three questions to ask yourself to get started creating the right plan.

Finally Peter gives advice on how to write a storage and backup RFP. He stresses the importance of giving context to your organizational needs. It’s a fluid thing that is going to differ from one organization to the next, so creating the right RFP is all about expressing your needs the right way. Then, you need to include all kinds of information about your current network infrastructure, budget, prospective products, and more. Peter explains all of this and more in our interview.

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Jonathan Blackwood is managing editor of TechDecisions. Jonathan joined TechDecisions in 2014 and writes about technologies that help to innovate and improve practices for companies of all sizes, K-12 and higher education, government, healthcare, hospitality, retail and large venue spaces. He is especially interested in the future of work and education and the Internet of Things. Follow him @BlackwoodTweets.